Hem
by TheSingingPterodactyl
Summary: "Course." He smiled to Abby and looked back at the baby Nothosaurs. "I think I could get used to him, what do you say mate?" - Connor and Abby have been stuck in the Cretaceous for four months when they find something as lost as they are. Please R&R! WARNING: Mild violence
1. Hem

**_Disclaimer_: Primeval is property of Impossible Pictures, no copyright intended. **

**_A/N_: This one was going to just be a little short and turned out longer than I originally planned out, but this way is better. Just want to thank Sallad24601 for all the support and help as I wrote this out.**

**Did another re-edit! First chapter is all I've gone over, I'm gettin' to the other two. This one really didn't need anything but some tweaking in speech pattern. Enjoy and please read and review!**

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Connor sat at the stream, he stared as the water streaked through the rocks and slivers of dirt that compassed down the flow of the current. His mind wandered – knowing he should be fishing right now but he just watched as the fish swam by peacefully. He always caught them in the end, but somewhere in him he hated to kill the creatures. Maybe he envied them or maybe he just felt bad for killing an innocent creature's life. Really he couldn't ever really put his finger on it, but when he caught them, he couldn't help but want to put them back; put them back where their home was, where they were safe.

Connor shook his head and lifted his spear; the fish scurried through the drift of the stream and right as he had a shot to strike- his head jilted to his side.

"Connor!" Connor's spear dropped to the ground and his feet coursed toward the sound of Abby's in periled scream. He couldn't quite put his ear on where the direction came so in the middle of woodsy maze he paused and tried to find some sense.

_"If Abby's hurt or even ..."_ His thoughts weren't helping him at the moment. All he could think of was what if he was too late. Connor took a deep breath, and knowing it was risky, he hollered out her name.

"Abby!" he shouted. His heart leapt when he heard her voice scream his name again. Connor ran to the direction of her voice and while he was running, it dawned on him how thick he could be sometimes. _That wasn't Abby's distress voice! _In the midst of Connor's realization, he felt a sudden thud to his back and he fell to the prickly, hard ground.

"Ow." Connor moaned, feeling Abby's weight pressed against his body.

"Got ya." She giggled. Connor rolled to his back to see Abby smiling at him- she sat up and teasingly sighed. "You broke the rules, Connor."

"Yeah, yeah. To be fair you're acting skills have greatly improved last time you played this one on me." He said, continuing to lie on the ground and look up in the trees. Abby rolled her eyes and smirked at him.

"You could have gotten hurt calling me back like that, ya know." She shoved him, he gave an effect of being hurt just to mess with her, but also because it wasn't too long ago where it probably did hurt.

"Well in hindsight, Abby, I didn't really care." Connor excused. Abby then was slightly upset at his answer; he always said things like that. _'He didn't care about his life if it meant it was for hers_.' It aggravated her to no end. But it wasn't because she found his reaction irritating or silly, but because she couldn't stand the thought of him getting hurt for her. Connor was always too selfless, one day it was going to get him killed, which would get Abby killed herself in the end.

Abby rested her chin on her hand and stared at him, Connor's eyes gawked over to her and he frowned.

"Wha'?" she worriedly asked.

"I left my spear at the creek."

She laughed. "Yeah, it only makes sense to leave your only weapon to come save me. Course." She reigned with sarcasm and Connor just shook his head.

"I wasn't much in the moment of thinking, yeah?" Connor voiced with annoyance in his tone. Abby tried not to sigh and instead laid down beside him, arms folded behind her head.

"So, is this what it's like?" Connor crooked his head to her and gave a questioning look. "You being mad at me and all, I wasn't sure what it felt like 'till now." Connor gave a laugh and looked back up at the tree tops with no comment to go along side. "So it is - interesting feeling."

"I'm not mad at you, Abs. I would have no reason to be, would I?"

"Except for the fact that I made you think I was in danger and had you come save the day." Abby strained her body to her side and propped her head up with her hand. Connor looked up at her and smiled.

"Well, there's that. But it's not the first time, is it?"

"Ha!" Abby thought about it, realizing he was right she couldn't help but grin. "I did it before we were even living in preordained danger at all hours."

"And I always come running." Connor said as if it was a bad thing. Abby furrowed her brow and cleared her throat, he looked at her and she punched his arm.

"Ow! Oi, what was that for?"

"Don't you ever think once about not coming, Connor Temple. Don't ever." Connor stretched his hand out to her, his thumb brushed the side of her cheek and he gave a reassuring front.

"I won't." Connor assured. She smiled as they gazed at each other until her realizing that they're actions could be taken in a romantic way she pulled from his touch and sat back up. But when she did, she regretted her repulsive instinct. "But if you could," Abby looked back at him as he finished his words. "Could you not scare me like that again?"

"I can't make any promises." She profoundly teased. Connor smirked at her, knowing she had great plans for spooking him a dozen more times this week. In many ways, Connor didn't mind all her little pranks on him, it kept humor between them. Connor knew if they needed anything here, it was a little light heartiness to coat the facts of what surrounded them. They couldn't risk losing that happiness they still had with each other.

Connor sat up beside her, Abby gave a playful look and Connor gave a chuckle through his nose. Before the Cretaceous their relationship had become somewhat strained, with Connor kicked out of the flat and Abby kissing him at the race track- they were both confused and felt awkward near each other. But when Helen came in the picture, it was like they were back the way they were supposed to be and then next thing they knew they were trapped millions of years into the past with only each other. Abby and he were now always joking and invading each other's personal space, and neither of them cared; but Connor was still puzzled. There was no kissing between them, ever, and there was never anything to say she wanted that kind of relationship. Then there were times like this that Connor looked at her, and the looks she gave him, it was like she was asking him to kiss her.

Connor's eyes looked away and he brought his mind to something else. Because no matter what Abby wanted, Connor wasn't sure if he wanted to change what they had at the time being. He couldn't really say, he loved Abby – but he didn't want anything if Abby didn't feel the same. Abby looked down at her hands and tried to accept what he just did, she knew it was the right choice, but it didn't mean she couldn't be disappointed. Abby feelings for Connor were mixed and rattled, her not getting involved now probably was best. When he spoke again Abby looked back to see him staring at a small little creature roaming around through the secluded woods that they found the two of them lounging in quite often.

"Is that a …? No, it's too small." Abby whispered to him, Connor shook his head.

"It has to be a baby." Connor quietly answered. Abby scooted towards it and put out her hand for the little reptile to see and find her friendly.

"Hey little guy, it's okay." The reptile kinked his head and walked on all fours slowly to her.

"There must be another lake around here." Connor guessed, the reptile leaped into her hands and she grinned.

"No, Nothosaurs' live in the oceans for how large they get. I thought we steered clear from any large water mass?" Abby edged back beside Connor, he smiled at the baby mer-life and petted its head with his hand.

"We did, we've been everywhere 'round here. This thing would have had to walk at least ten miles from the closest water mass."

"Maybe something carried him?" Abby suggested.

"What do you mean?" Connor probed.

"The Pterodactyls tend to linger around here. One could have swooped down when this guy came up on land, carried him about ten miles and dropped him in the forest when he wiggled aroun' too much."

"Pterodactyls aren't known for dropping their pray but I guess it seems the most suitable reason, yeah?" Abby looked at Connor with a devious smile, his head lifted and when their eyes met Connor dreaded what she was going to ask.

"Connor…" she started.

Connor shook his head. "Abby, no."

"Connor! He could die!" she spat at him. Connor gave no reaction to that statement.

"Do you know how big Nothosaurs' get?" he reminded, she rolled her eyes.

"Just until he old enough to find his own home."

"Abs, Nothosaurs' can live out of water- but there's no telling for how long! It could die in a matter of days without its natural habitat."

"Then we let it swim in the creek!"

"And let it-"

"Him." She corrected him. Connor sighed and amended his words.

"And let **him** eat all our fish? No."

"I never said it was up to you." She scowled at him, Connor tried to reason with her but was she looking at him with her dejected blue eyes and his heart sank.

"Abby-"

"Look at him, Conn. He's like a little Rex without wings." Connor looked down and smiled at the creature. This little Nothosaurs reminded her of home, how could he say no to her just wanting a little bit of remembrance? "Besides, we kept three at home and we managed."

"The circumstances were a bit different then, weren't they?" Connor noted. He then smiled at Abby and shrugged his shoulders. "But I guess we can take care of the little man until he gets old enough to take care of himself." Abby gave out a classic Abby squeal and hugged him tight. He missed it when she was happy like this; the times when she was excited about something, the times when something that really **meant **something to her took place. She hadn't acted like this since Connor graciously agreed to move out of the flat.

She pulled away and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Connor."

"Course." He smiled to her and looked back at the Nothosaurs. "I think I could get used to him, what do you say mate?" the creature looked up at him and curled up in Abby's lap.

"Should we give him a name?" she wondered.

"Yeah, calling it 'him' all the time is a bit silly, init?" he said, softening up to the idea of keeping him around.

"Yeah." She smiled. "I dunno, I sorta like 'him'."

"…Really?" Connor looked at her baffled; she gave a laugh and explained.

"I like 'Hem'. It means 'home', and then there's no confusing him." Connor smiled and gave a nod.

"Brilliant." They looked at each other, both missing where they would have been only but four months ago. They were missing their friends, missing their jobs, missing their families, missing their lives. Being there for so long now, though, it was like this was their home. It may have not been their ideal home, but they knew everything about it and they kept themselves safe from most danger. Connor stood up and put out a hand, helping Abby to her feet with Hem in her arms. "C'mon, let's go show Hem our home."


	2. Morgon

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I write Primeval and it's characters for the fun of a good read, no copyright intended.**

**A/N: For the people who actually read Author Notes and were wondering where the violence was - the mild violence I mentioned in the description will take place in Chapter 3.**

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Connor lay on his back in the shelter of their camp. He looked up at their creation of weaved vines, branches and patted in moss that brought the best shelter anything else did in this god forsaken era. He was supposed to be asleep as Abby kept watch, but in all honesty, he hadn't slept much in months. Ever since Abby and he decided one should always keep watch, he couldn't fine peace in Abby being out there alone; that and just being in the Cretaceous is a little unsettling to say the least. When he did sleep he found himself in a deep, hard sleep, which wasn't good for when danger came around the corner. He listened to her and Hem, she made him silently laugh every time she talked to the little creature. She had missed Rex more than he realized.

Connor rolled to his side and attempted to close his eyes and get some rest since day light was still out. He let his thoughts be silent and started to doze off when Abby called his name. His eyes had no trouble in opening as he brought himself up and out of the catacomb.

"What's wrong?" he asked, Abby looked at him and frowned.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have woken you." She doubted and Connor placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I wasn't asleep, what's wrong?" Abby looked him in the eyes and shook her head.

"You never sleep." Connor looked down to his feet and cleared his voice.

"That's not why you called me out, is it?" he asked as he voice rang up from his head being tilted down. Abby sighed.

"No, suppose not." She looked up in the trees and started to show the fear she had been bottling up a few hours now. "I …" Abby breathed in and let out a loud exhale, just saying it. "I keep hearing a sound of a hawk or an eagle. And just now, I heard flapping of wings… fairly large wings."

"You think it's a Pterodactyl?" Abby nodded. Connor tried not to worry or show any sign of alarm. "It's probably just scoping for a feast, their wingspans too big to land down here – we'll be fine." Abby nodded again, trying to be okay with it. Connor saw how she looked at Hem as he wondered around the camp; she wasn't just scared for their lives.

"Why don't we trade shifts tonight, eh? I can't sleep anyway."

"No, Connor you sleep better when there's still a little bit of day light, you need to sleep." Abby argued and Connor raised a brow.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I hear you shuffling around in there at night, tossing and turning until your shift comes. You haven't slept an actual night sleep since the Acrocanthosaurus attacked our camp."

"I-" Connor stumbled on his words, he decided not to stress her over this at the moment so he avoided denying it all together. "I'll be fine Abs, it's just one night."

"No, **_I'll_** be fine, Connor. You go back to bed- I'll wake you when it comes your turn." Connor growled, always eyeing her when she told him to do things he didn't agree on. Abby crossed her arms and gave him a glare – in return he gave a seized smile and dragged his feet back to the shelter, knowing it was useless to argue.

Connor flopped back on the palate and tried to find a mindset to sleep, but his thoughts kept turning back to Abby and the fear in her countenance. In the corner of his eye he saw something walking in the shelter, he looked to see Hem giving a yawn and crawling up beside him. Connor smiled as it curled up and found itself in a restful sleep. Seeing the little creature with no worries and no struggle, he envied it just like he envied the fish in the creek. They had nothing to worry about, and it was that easy. Only difference was this little guy was homeless, just like them.

Connor let his eyes rest, hearing the purring mere creature beside him. It may have been slightly weird but he liked having something cuddle beside him, it felt like it should when Abby was around. His thoughts calmed and he sooner or later found himself asleep, with Abby peaking in every now and then just to see him at peace. Or the closest they could get in the Cretaceous, she supposed.

_"Connor," _Abby hummed in his ear. "Conn, wake up before I shove you out of the bed." Connor's eyes creased open to see Abby sitting beside the bed with a smirk. The night had fallen in for quite some time and Abby was now sitting inside the shelter to keep watch. Her eyes were strained and tired and Hem was now cuddled in her lap. Connor sat up and yawned.

"I feel like I should say 'morning'." Connor commented and Abby smiled.

"That's because that's the first time you've actually soundly slept in weeks." He looked around and wished he owned a clock, hating to never have any kind of time but the setting of the sun and moon.

"Abby, did you let me sleep in?" he asked as he observed where the moon sat in the sky.

"I did." She said without any guilt or repentance, she even knew he'd be angry. "You needed your sleep, so I let you have it until I got tired."

"Abby, you don't need to put pity on me-"

"No, Connor, I don't need to put pity on you. But I do need to take care of you since you don't ever seem to want to care for yourself. The deal was that whatever we did, we did together- and I'm not letting you back down on that because you refuse to put yourself first every once and a while." Connor looked down with a nod, knowing she was right. "If you really cared about keeping me safe, then you'd keep yourself idiot-self safe, too."

Connor slid off the palate and came beside her. She kept her head turned away from him and pretended to keep watch, so he placed his hand on her leg and sighed.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Her head curved to see his face. "I guess I need you to remind me when I'm being an idiot every now and then." Abby gripped his hand that sat still on her jeans. She squeezed it tight and sighed.

"I just … I couldn't do this without you."

"Oi, don't go planning my funeral yet! I'm Le Connor Temple, after all!" he teased her. Abby gave a soft laugh and looked over to her oh so welcoming bed. "Go, sleep. Me and Hem are gonna do some reptile, human bonding, aren't we mate?" the creature looked up at him and then laid his head back down to sleep.

"He was up for about an hour so I think he's a bit tired." Connor snorted out a laugh and gave her a smile.

"Night." He told her, she smiled back at him and wrapped the foil blanket around her.

"G'night, Le Connor Temple."

* * *

"Ow!" Abby's eyes squinted as she heard Connor's voice outside the shelter. "Ow, ow, ow…" he mumbled to himself, Abby smiled and sat up. The sun was out- bright and early in the morning, and Connor and her traded shifts back and forth all night where he finally slept during his turns to rest. She looked down at her loosely tied shoes that she hardly ever took off, afraid something would happen and she'd have to run through the Cretaceous in socks. She reached down to tighten them when Connor came in with plastic container they had with them when they came here and a water bottle.

"Mornin', Sleepin' Beauty." He greeted and handed her the bowl to show it having a large, nicely cooked fish all cut and ready to eat. "I thought it's probably the closest we'll get to sausage for breakfast." Abby smiled and looked in the bowl to see it cut for two. She looked up at him and he explained. "As I already said, you were right – there's no just taking care of you, there's no just taking care of me. We care for each other. So today, I made breakfast for both of us."

Abby leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, whispering another thank you to him. But as she pulled back Connor took her arm and she froze, able to feel each other's breath on one another skin. Both of them wouldn't move or speak, waiting to see who might take that bold step first; Abby decided to break the silence.

"Connor, I…" she couldn't find the right words to finish what she wanted to say. Instead she noticed Connor had begun to lean in, drawing closer to her and she did the same. Before anything happened she decided to finish what she was going to say. "Connor," she whispered to him, he hummed a reply. "I've been trying to figure out the right way to say this but-" their heads snapped to their sides as they heard a small creature screech as in distress. Abby jolted out of Connor's grasp and out of the shelter, panic burning through her as she came to see nothing in sight. Connor came out behind her and groaned.

"Hem." He realized. Abby inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it release. Connor hated himself, this was his fault- how could he be so stupid? "I'm so sorry, Abby; I left him out here alone. I didn't think I'd be too long-" Abby reached for her bag and turned around to face Connor.

"It's okay, we both should have thought about it." She answered. Connor looked at her confused.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go get Hem."

"Abby, don't be absurd." She looked at him with no sign of backing down, completely determined on her decision. Connor sighed and grabbed his bag as well, he gave her a nod and they ran for the direction the sound came from; hoping they wouldn't get themselves killed in the process.


	3. Glöm Aldrig

**Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval and it's characters, I just enjoy writing some fan-fiction.**

**A/N: Mild violence, angst, but brings some hope in the end. Hope you catch on to it. This is the last chapter. Please R&R if you liked it, or if you just took the time to read.**

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The lanky, thin reptile staggered around the forest of the Cretaceous. His head wobbled and he licked his snout as the thirst for water sequenced him to the bone. Hem's head yanked to the sound of a flowing creek in the distance. The little creature chirruped and scurried to the peaceful, calming sound of his aquatic home.

_"Hem!"_ the creature heard a muffled sound behind him. The little Nothosaurs knew the sound of the people who brought him to safety, but the creature just wanted back where he belonged.

"Hem!" Abby and Connor searched through the woods for lost Nothosaurs. Connor gently laid his hand on Abby's tensed up shoulder, she kept back the tears she felt so silly even having over a creature she's only had for maybe a day and sighed.

"I'm sure he's fine." Connor insisted. Abby looked at the deep brown that coated his eyes, after breaking the stare she nodded and stored back any evidence of emotion. But Connor knew that when she tried to hide the emotion was when she was having more than just a care for a creature that looked like her pet- he feared Abby's irrational actions would start to get the better of her.

"Mmm, we just need to find him soon. I don't want that Pterodactyl or whatever it was to find him." Abby gripped her weapon; Connor realized he was still missing his from leaving it at the creek.

"Oi, why don't we head to the creek? I left my spear there. We can look for Hem on the way, yeah?" Abby looked at him and shook her head; she had another place in mind.

"You go. I don't think he'd go that way."

"Abs, I don't know- with hearing whatever that was yesterday and all that-?"

"I'll be fine, Connor. Just go get your spear and I'll be heading to the cliff." Abby assured but Connor knew better.

"There's hardly any shelter there, if a creature swooped down-!"

"Connor! I'll be fine!" Abby shot him her determined look once again, Connor always knowing her mind wouldn't be changed when it came to that. But hey, two can play at this game.

"Promise me you won't go out in the open without me."

"Connor-"

"You gave me a speech about it not just being about just one person anymore, remember? Don't make me tell you the same." Abby looked him in the eyes, seeing the stubbornness and loyalty that crept inside of him almost annoyed her. He was a little too brave and zealous sometimes.

"Fine, but be fast."

"Yeah." Connor answered in a brief second as he took off for the creek. She watched as he rushed off and felt grief as he saw him leave without telling him how she felt. But she couldn't think about that now, not now – more emotions would not help the situation. She had to find Hem and get him home, but not Connor and hers home, his home; where he belonged.

Connor sprinted through trees and leaped over the defunct plants and bushes. To avoid any areas that were known for inhabiting Raptors or Theropods he had to take a detour which aggravated him to no end. His thoughts came near to going through anyway, but that would just get him and Abby both in trouble. There's almost always Raptor's near there.

After about a fifteen minute run he stopped, hardly out of breath, and looked to see the creek right ahead. Walking to his spear that sat yards away from the creek he picked it up and smiled before speaking.

"Hello, sexy." He slid his hand across the carved staff that he made himself and took a deep breath to get ready to do some more running. His feet glided in front of him and he started for the forest again but in an unexpected blow from the back he fell, catching himself with his hands before he hit, and looked behind him to see Hem. "Well," he laughed in relief. "Hi to you too, mate!"

* * *

A border of trees stretched across the Cretaceous, going down miles wide. A large land mass that bared no plants or life surfaced ahead of Abby that expanded to a mountain with a high peek that hung off like a cliff. Abby stood at the very limit of trees, anything could be out there; Raptors, Pterosaurs', Theropod Birds, Acrocanthosaurus'. There could even be innocent ones like some Hypsilophodons. Connor and Abby only came into this territory if they had to; they tried not to leave the forest because the valleys were so unpredictable.

But if Hem had gone out there, he would be fish and chips for any predator in a matter of seconds. If she went now, then she might have a chance of finding him. That is if he's even out there. The only reason she thought so was because as Hem stayed around the camp, she noticed he liked to find the sunniest area he could, so in theory he'd run off in a big sunny field.

_"Don't be an idiot, Abigail." _Abby thought to herself. _"That's Connor's job, remember?"_ she groaned and looked behind her- Connor wasn't anywhere in sight. Where was that cheeky geek anyway? _"Connor's taking too long. I can just go out there and come right _back_!"_ She looked out to see the opened clearing- no creatures were in sight at the moment. _"No, no you promised Connor. He'll be furious at you."_ Hearing the same screech she heard at the camp Abby gripped her weapon and looked behind her again, it had to be Hem.

"Oh glömma Connor!" Abby's Swedish back ground bled through her words and she ran out for the pasture, knowing what she was doing was going to make Connor lose his temper for the first time in three months. Abby couldn't look back, even if this was a mistake, she had to find that Nothosaurs before it was too late.

* * *

Connor's feet pounded against the ground, he carried the heavy reptile load in his arms and whizzed for the clearing. Connor had a feeling deep down in his gut that Abby didn't keep his promise, especially for how long it took him to catch Hem, she never had much patience. He had realized this morning that naming this creature Hem wasn't because he reminded her of home it was because the creature had no home.

Just as Connor related himself to the fish in the creek, Abby was seeing her problem in this homeless prehistoric reptile. And although it seemed silly, this creature was away from his kind, away from his territory, he was lost in a big wilderness with flesh eating dinosaurs and the longer he stayed away from his home the longer he became accustom to a place he had no reason being.

The first few months of being in the Cretaceous was the hardest for Connor, it hit him like a ton of bricks – having to emotionally accept the turmoil of their situation. But Abby, she never cried, she never broke down. The only time tears streamed down her face was when she feared Connor wouldn't make it after an attack by a raptor; it was their first weeks of being there, they didn't know the territory and his hurt leg caused him to be a bit too slow to have an actual chance against the predator- it wasn't too bad, Abby managed to scare it away with fire before it really hurt him.

But when Hem went missing he saw in her eyes how hard it hit her, just like him, a ton of bricks falling right on her like a cartoon on the telly. It wasn't like Abby hadn't accepted that she was here, it was just Connor didn't think she fully ever wanted to accept the consequences – afraid it would do to her what it did to him. You lose it. Your sense of mind goes straight out the window and you hurt, you feel pain for what you've lost. That rang Connor's fear even higher as his feet found a faster pace; no sense. He knew exactly what Abby was doing right now, and it wasn't keeping her promise.

He raced to the edge of the pasture, finding himself to the very border of trees. He looked out and saw Abby's figure charging out into the wide open field. "Abby!" he shouted, but he hardly could make anything out. Connor needed glasses so he wore contacts, but the contacts he used were already a month old when he walked into the Cretaceous so they didn't last him very long after. He wasn't blind without glasses or contacts, but he could hardly see anything from a distance. "Abby, I found Hem!" he yelled out to her. From what he could see she had turned around but before he knew it a large mass surfaced to the sky, following Abby fairly close behind.

"Abby!" Connor hurtled out in the clearing, holding Hem with one hand and his spear with the other. The creature swooped down, it screeched out the shriek they heard at the camp and tried to catch Abby but she ducked and it circled back around. As Connor got closer and saw what exactly this thing was his stomach churned. It was a Pteranodon.

The creature scoped out its trap and Connor could see it eyeing them as its prey. The Pteranodon cawed out a loud call and brought their ears to a piercing ring. Connor ran up to them and strikes for the Pterosaurs' heart as it lowered down to claw its target. The spear sliced through the Pteranodons skin and slit down its chest, the blood lashed out of its torso and seeped onto Connor as Abby grabbed the reptile from Connor's grasp. She gasped as the creature plunged back down with its claws clutching for something to retaliate to, Connor thrust himself over Abby as a shield and the talons nearly caught Connor's eye, putting a gash over his eyebrow.

Connor looked at Abby, she was terrified and repentant – she looked back at him and shook her head.

"Abby, go!" he demanded as the Pteranodon revolved back around to attack.

"Not without you!" she refused, he shot a look to her that showed the anger in his eyes and Abby knew she had no choice. She coursed for the forest but when she looked back she saw the creature grappling for Connor, rasping its claws into his flesh before he could even fight back. "Connor!"

The Pterosaurs raised Connor by the arms as it brawled to fly away, Abby knew it didn't have much left in it but it had enough to kill him. Before the creature had time to get up high enough Abby dropped Hem, reached for Connor's spear and hurled the weapon straight for the Pteranodons heart. The spear punctured straight through to the organ and the Pterosaurs plummeted to the ground, crying out a yowl as it gorged to the surface head first- its neck shattering and distorting as it collapsed, dying within minutes.

Connor lifted himself from the hard, prickly Cretaceous ground – remembering it not being too long ago where he was laying in the dirt because of Abby. Abby slid down beside Connor and cupped her hands to his face, looking him in the eye.

"Are you okay?" Connor eyes met with hers and every bit of rage he held inside of him melted, just feeling her warming touch. Connor spluttered out blood onto his jeans from the toll of the fall, his arms quickly bruised large rings around his arms, splintering gouges from the claws tore across his skin and the cut from his brow dripped down into his eye, but he still managed to smile.

"Just a scratch." He managed out. Abby swiped her thumb amidst the deep wound on his forehead and gave a delimited chuckle. Without hesitation she pressed her lips against his, bringing Connor to a pleasant surprise. She quickly pulled away before embracing him with a hug; holding onto him with dear life.

"Thank god." Tears flooded her eyes and sobs of joy begged their way out of her, but Abby refused to let one piece of weakness show in such a happy moment.

Over Abby's shoulder Connor clasped Abby in his arms, seeing the view of the Pteranodons corpse in a twisted, deformed manner from the way it mauled to the ground. His eyes stayed on a figure that was small and motionless beside the dinosaur, he watched – hoping for it to move – but it laid dead. It was Hem- the Pteranodon must have hit him, killing him instantly. Connor pulled away, his eyes sad and unsure. "What-? What's the matter?" Abby turned to see what Connor's eyes directed to. In a sudden gasp she fled to her feet and stood near enough to see Hem, lifeless. She felt a deep pain inside her, everything around her finally – after all the months of denying – it was all falling in on her.

Connor stood beside her, expecting some kind of sadness or cry, but she did nothing. "Abs?" Connor's voice was muted in her ears as she gazed at the dead creatures.

"Glömma Hem." She finally spoke, Connor not sure what she said. Before he could ask, Abby walked away and headed to their camp site. Connor looked at the creature one last time, leaving his remorse with the poor, fragile thing and quietly followed Abby; waiting for her pain to finally show.

* * *

They got to their camp site without any hustle, Connor was slower than usual but feasting time had settled down for the day for the dinosaurs. Abby came to the shelter and pulled out her things for dinner; Connor stepped into the camp site and patiently watched as she let herself deal through it.

"Fish or bulbs?" she asked. Connor shrugged and Abby nodded. "We could find something else tonight I suppose."

"Abby," Abby flinched at his voice, ignoring him she went on with her things.

"We need to put something on those wounds, I'd hate for them to scar."

"Abby."

"We're low on supplies from the first aid kit, I think if use that and some of the natural bandages we've made we should-"

"Abs," Connor's presence startled Abby, her eyes settled up at him with tears overcoming her and she shook her head.

"I'm fine, Connor." She choked out. Connor stroked his trembling hand through her matted hair and pulled her in his chest. With one deep breath she let out every sob, every tear, every cry and every doubt that she had been bottling up inside since the first day of coming through that anomaly.

Connor said nothing, his arms stayed wrapped around her and his breath stayed steady. She listened to his heartbeat through her weeps, reassuring her that she wasn't alone. She may not be home, but she wasn't alone- and at that moment, that's all that mattered. After all, they were going to be just fine, as long as they had each other.

"It's going to be okay." Connor finally spoke, Abby looked up at him.

"Connor, we're stuck here." Connor shook his head and smiled.

"We're going to find our way home, Abby."

* * *

_"We're not Hem."_

His eyes clipped open, the mass creature dead beside him. His eyes peered around; wobbling on his feet he shook off the stiffness in his muscle and gave a loud wail. He was injured, but not dead. A large, bright, rotating object appeared and shined in front of the small little Nothosaurs, he slipped toward the peculiar variance and he sunk his head through the anomaly to examine this unusual light. He pulled back in a leap; the creature had seen this before.

The familiarity was enough for Hem to step through, right before the anomaly closed behind him for good- and Hem was finally home.


End file.
